The ongoing changes in the health-care landscape are influenced most by globalization, economic and technological factors, and the aging of the population

Week 2: Discussion Question 1 – Applying Leadership Skills in Exploring the Roles for APRN

The ongoing changes in the health-care landscape are influenced most by globalization, economic and technological factors, and the aging of the population. The complexity of the healthcare environment requires us to examine the leadership needs for the APN roles that are applicable for today and the future (Joel, 2018). In chapter 21 (Leadership for APNs: If Not Now, Then When?) the author outlines serval leadership theories or styles including:

• Situational or Contingency Leadership;
• Servant Leadership;
• Transformational or Transactional Leardershp;
• Relational Leadership;
• Clinical Leadership and Congruent Leadership.

Select one of the above leadership theories or style.

1. Using your own words define the theory.
2. Considering the various APN roles (Clinician, Educator, Researcher, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Consultant, and Leader) describe how you might use the leadership theory in your future APN role.
3. From your experience as a professional nurse, give one example of the selected leadership theory or style as seen in action or provide an exemplary example. 

Week 2: Discussion Question 2 – The Impact of Healthcare Trends on the APN Roles

Arnautova (2018) in the article ‘Top Healthcare Industry Trends to Watch in 2018 and Beyond’ outlined five (5) trends that will revolutionize how we provide and consume healthcare services over the next decade. These healthcare trends include:

1. Telemedicine
2. Artificial Intelligence
3. Robotics
4. IoT and wearables
5. Blockchain

Select 1 of the 5 trends and discuss the potent positive and negative impacts the trend will have on the APN role(s) (Clinician, Educator, Researcher, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Consultant, and Leader).

Reference: Arnautova, Y. (2018). Top healthcare industry trends to watch in 2018 and beyond. Retrieved August 20, 2018 from https://www.globallogic.com/blogs/top-healthcare-industry-trends-to-watch-in-2018-and-beyond/

Week 2: Discussion Question 1 – Expert Answer and Explanation

Leadership Skills in Nursing

Transformational Leadership Style

The healthcare sector is changing and the new measures require a transformed leadership that will help set the required pace and milestones. One of the most critical leadership styles that can be used with the changes in APRN roles is transformational leadership (Poghosyan & Bernhardt, 2018).

The style is important as it focuses on inspiration, encouragement, and motivation of the staff and employees to create change, innovate and grow the unit for future success. New roles require that a nurse be prepared for new challenges and obstacles that have to be solved innovatively for the betterment of the patient.

Leadership Style and APRN Roles

As a leader, the healthcare sector is focused on improving the health of the patient, conducting research, and administration purposes, transformational leadership can help an APRN come up with means to improve the various roles. For instance, an APRN can come up with ways to ensure that there is better service delivery and innovative interactions between the nurse and the patient (Popejoy et al., 2017).

These innovations should be transformative and in line with current trends such as the incorporation of evidence in care delivery. The APRN can also focus on understanding current technology in order to improve the administration of care through transformations. The transformations can focus on the reduced discharge time, proper handling of patient data among others.

Leadership Style in Action

One practical example of transformational leadership is conducting nurse education on how to make use of new technologies such as evidence-based care. The strategy is transformational in the sense that it will enable the nurses to meet their desired goals and improve on the growth of the organization (Poghosyan & Bernhardt, 2018). Nurses should also embrace the changes and accept to learn and improve on their skills.

References

Poghosyan, L., & Bernhardt, J. (2018). Transformational leadership to promote nurse practitioner practice in primary care. Journal of nursing management, 26(8), 1066-1073.

Popejoy, L., Vogelsmeier, A., Galambos, C., Flesner, M., Alexander, G., Lueckenotte, A., … & Rantz, M. (2017). The APRN role in changing nursing home quality: the Missouri quality improvement initiative. Journal of nursing care quality, 32(3), 196-201.

Week 2: Discussion Question 2 – The Impact of Healthcare Trends on the APN Roles – Expert Answer and Explanation

The Impact of Healthcare Trends on the APN Roles

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is one of the most recent healthcare trends that is being embraced globally. The healthcare sector is transforming to be able to reach a wider audience and meet the increasing demands in the healthcare field (Vitacca et al., 2018). Telemedicine per se includes the use of technology and other accessories to facilitate remote care delivery and monitoring of patient progress. The incorporation of telemedicine in the healthcare sector has brought about both positive and negative issues affecting the delivery of care.

The major positive impact that telemedicine has had is the increase in accessibility to medical care to people from a wider geographical region. A person from Florida can be able to bet services from a specialist in Texas without having to incur travel expenses (Vitacca et al., 2018).

The technology has also reduced the cost of medication which would have been used in admission of the patients and paying for the stay at the facility. Telemedicine also incorporates ease of interdisciplinary collaboration as there is the ease of access to patient data and different professionals can collaborate to help improve the patient conditions.

There are also negative aspects associated with telemedicine and might affect the outcome of the patient. One of these issues is that telemedicine does not give the doctor ability to physically assess the patient and get to have a professional perspective on the issues around the physical concerns. The diagnosis is purely dependent on the patient observation which might be biased or flawed (Armaignac et al., 2018).

On the other hand, the use of technology to collect data cannot be guaranteed as they might fail or be triggered at different timings. The other issue can be the insecurity of patient data which is susceptible to hackers or unauthorized breaches.

References

Armaignac, D. L., Saxena, A., Rubens, M., Valle, C. A., Williams, L. M. S., Veledar, E., & Gidel, L. T. (2018). Impact of Telemedicine On Mortality, Length Of Stay, And Cost Among Patients In Progressive Care Units: Experience From A Large Healthcare System. Critical Care Medicine, 46(5), 728.

Vitacca, M., Montini, A., & Comini, L. (2018). How Will Telemedicine Change Clinical Practice In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?. Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease, 12, 1753465818754778.